The Los Angeles Kings were probably the big winners of the NHL Draft Lottery. After all, they have moved up to second place, and the prospect they choose will likely be a game changer, but Adler Mannheim’s left winger Tim Stützle is the one who puts them in the best position to be winners for years to come.
Kings lose to Lafreniere
Technically, the placeholder team turned out to be a bigger winner. You will have the honor of choosing Alexis Lafreniere to be very clear. And while the Kings moved up a few places after the fourth best odds, the Pittsburgh Penguins, who ended the regular season with the seventh best record in the league, assuming the first overall selection could lose their game against the Montreal Canadiens.
It can hardly be denied that the kings would love the right to draw Lafreniere themselves. Each team would, and No. 2 overall, is in some ways a consolation prize in that regard. Still, it’s a pretty big deal that shouldn’t be diminished in terms of its potential to positively influence kings for a decade, if not longer.
In addition, it is currently difficult to rate unknowns, especially when it comes to the overall strength of the team that ultimately chooses first. From an organizational point of view, they could be very weak in depth and would have been lucky in a reasonably decent season with a play-in-round berth.
In sharp contrast, there is no doubt that the rich have just become richer for the kings. They have literally spent years developing their potential pipeline to the point that their system is ranked as one of the best in the league, if not number one in its own right. Now they have the number 2 overall. This selection should be based on the relative lack of depth on the left at the moment.
Byfield against Stützle
Sudbury Wolves star Quinton Byfield is number 2 in general consensus, however, he is a center and the kings already have Gabriel Vilardi (# 11 in 2017), Alex Turcotte (# 5 in 2019) and Tyler Madden ( No. 68 in 2018) to get there. Players like Captain Anze Kopitar, who is currently the top linchpin of the team and won’t go anywhere anytime soon, have four years left for his deal, a $ 10 million cap hit and a no-trade Clause provides.
On the left, the Kings really only have winger Arthur Kaliyev in terms of blue chip prospects. In addition, Alex Iafallo is effectively her top left winger, which should tell you all about her depth on this page, even if it’s only because he, like him, should be considered a top trade chip has only one year left for his deal. The kings simply need Stützle more than Byfield.
Granted, Stützle is also likely to be able to play in the center, but he is mostly listed as left wing. And Byfield in turn shoots to the left and could theoretically be turned into a winger, leading to arguments that the kings should only choose the best available player and cross that bridge to develop their prospects in a certain position when they get there.
The fact is that it is a player who could reach the NHL as a top 6 striker next season. And since the Kings have not won a playoff game since 2016, ideally they want to run the next season.
That doesn’t mean that Byfield, even if he’s one of the younger players in the draft, won’t be able to take immediate effect because he is. However, there is a thin line between the best player available and the best player for the kings, and in this case it is Stützle, based on his playing style and vision, that they simply lack on the left. After some information, Stützle is even the second best player available after Lafreniere.
Think of it this way: if the balls had fallen a bit differently and the kings had made the first choice, there would be no doubt who they would choose because Lafreniere is the best player available on all accounts. He is also a leftist, which makes him great. If the kings didn’t have to be persuaded to take the best left winger in the draft, they shouldn’t have to take the best left winger on the board. This is Stützle.
